Larry Port talks with Patrick Leary about his career in finance, bond trading and sales, work-life balance, and what this job is like on a day-to-day basis at Loop Capital on the Dream Job Cafe podcast. Patrick talks about the bond market, how bonds do not trade on an exchange like stocks, why it takes actual people to make these transactions happen, and how an old-school market still has an electronic component. They walk through market hours, inventory, and the firm's risk position, travel with clients, and take advantage of the extra credit hours that come with being successful in this industry. Patrick shares how he moved from medicine and pre-law to the business school, an internally managed stock fund, and a junior trading intern role at a bank trust company. He describes how a professor who said he would teach how the world really works changed his financial literacy, why bond trading clicked, and how AI, algorithms, bespoke products, and large language models may shape the future for young people who are curious about this path.

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👤 Guest Bio

Patrick Leary is the managing director and head of trading at Loop Capital, leading the firm's fixed income division. His work sits in the bond market, trading government bonds, corporate bonds, muni bonds, and mortgage-backed securities with institutional clients. Patrick manages the firm's inventory and risk position, blending sales and trading with risk management and client service. He started as a junior trading intern at a local bank trust company in St Paul, trading equities and many different types of fixed income instruments on the buy side before moving to the broker-dealer world.

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📌 What We Cover

• What this job is like for a head of trading in the bond market, from market hours and being tied to the bell to lunch breaks on the desk and work-life balance across time zones.
• How sales, trading, and risk management fit together, including inventory, client warehousing risk, and the differences between institutional clients, banks, hedge funds, money managers, and public entities.
• Patrick’s path from thinking about medicine and law to pre-law, the business school, an internally managed stock fund, and a professor who said he would teach how the world really works.
• Early experience as a junior trading intern at a bank trust company in St Paul, trading equities and many different types of fixed income instruments on the buy side before moving to a broker-dealer.
• The role of salespeople has changed, from entertaining clients with ball games and great dinners to using technology tools, electronic trading, and a more sophisticated, knowledgeable sales staff.
• The future of bond trading and sales, including commoditization and electronification, algorithms and trading programs, cryptocurrencies and stable coins, and bespoke products that are not easy to commoditise.
• The temperament and skills that help in this industry, like comfort with risk, thick skin, next trade mentality, networking, internships, and using AI and large language models as a calling card for young people.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Larry Port
• Patrick Leary
• Loop Capital
• Morgan Stanley
• IBM
• Robinhood
• Ted Lasso